Ten people forced to flee house fire at Inala

A family of five is among 10 people left homeless after a fire destroyed a home in Brisbane's southwest overnight.

A home on the corner of Rosemary and Azalea streets at Inala has been gutted by fire. Picture: Lachie Millard

Ten people including a number of children have escaped a fire which has destroyed a home west of Brisbane.

Emergency services rushed to the fire at Rosemary Street, Inala about 12.40am. A couple of families were forced to escape the house.

Ten stable patients were assessed. No patients were injured and no one required transportation to hospital.

Queensland Fire Department Superintendent Graeme Hall said authorities were working on determining the cause of the blaze, including investigating whether smoke alarms were installed.

“That is a concern, our fire investigation team will be looking at it,” Supt Hall said.

“It is difficult because the ceiling has collapsed through. So they’re going through a search to see if there were smoke alarms and if there was why they didn’t operate.”

The aftermath of the fire at the home on Rosemary St at Inala. Picture: Lachie Millard

Mona Liza Aokuso lived inside the home with her partner and three children, aged 9, 8 and 7.

Ms Aokuso said she was woken by another resident just after midnight to the kitchen on fire.

“I got woken up, and told there is a fire in the kitchen. I ran and got the kids. One of the men was at the kitchen sink with some sort of cloth,” she said.

“He was trying to throw it over the burner, trying to put it out.

Fire investigators on the scene after an overnight house fire at Inala. Picture Lachie Millard

“It took three times for me to wake up the kids. They went to bed late.”

Ms Aokusa said she had been living in the home for several months, her husband had been living at the property for more than a year.

“It’s bad timing, it’s my son’s birthday tomorrow he is turning 10 tomorrow,” she said.

From January 1, 2022, new changes came into effect meaning residential rental properties will be required to have interconnected, photoelectric smoke alarms installed in every bedroom, in hallways and on every level.

The changes came after a scathing coronial inquest into Australia’s deadliest house hire – a 2011 inferno at Logan which claimed 11 lives after a smoke alarm was turned off because it was too noisy.

Ms Aokusa told The Courier Mail that she did not hear any smoke alarms going off during the fire.

Supt Hall said there could have been a vastly different outcome.

“This could’ve had a completely different outcome if they were all asleep, because you can see how rapidly the fire spread through this type of building. It’s really important to have working smoke alarms,” he said.

Mr Hall said investigators will be looking into the history of the residents and occupants of the home and if any previous reports were made to the department.

“At this point in time, it is unknown that they ascertained that this was budget accommodation with the numbers, but our team were investigating that,” he said.

“So that changed the way that we had smoke alarms and fire safety in those types of budget accommodation.

“If there is action to be taken, that will be taken by our compliance and prosecution team and our legal team for any ongoing action taken against them.”

The Courier Mail has contacted the property owner for comment.

Originally published as Ten people forced to flee house fire at Inala